Sensitive U.S. files were abandoned in Libya Consulate

Oct. 3, 2012
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The day after the Sept. 11 attack, Libyans walked around the grounds of the gutted U.S. Consulate in Benghazi after an attack that killed four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens. / Ibrahim Alaguri, AP

by Michael Winter, USA TODAY

by Michael Winter, USA TODAY

Sensitive documents were left behind in the remains of the U.S. Consulate in Libya and some may have been stolen in the chaotic aftermath, The Washington Post reports from Benghazi.

Documents a Post reporter found scattered on the floor today included weapons collection, personnel records of Libyan security contractors, emergency evacuation procedures and the travel schedule of Ambassador Christopher Stevens, who died with three others when the Consulate was attacked and burned Sept. 11. None were marked classified, but State Department officials who were shown copies of the documents asked that they not be published.

Last month, CNN discovered a copy of Steven's personal journal and broadcast details.

The compound remains loosely guarded, the Post writes:

Although the gates to the compound were locked several days after the attacks, looters and curiosity-seekers were free to roam in the initial chaotic aftermath, and many documents may already have disappeared.

No government-provided security forces are guarding the compound, and Libyan investigators have visited just once, according to a member of the family who owns the compound and who allowed the journalists to enter Wednesday.

Two private security guards paid for by the compound's Libyan owner are the only people watching over the sprawling site, which is composed of two adjoining villa complexes and protected in some places by a wall only eight feet high.

"Securing the site has obviously been a challenge," said Mark Toner, deputy State Department spokesman. "We had to evacuate all U.S. government personnel the night of the attack. After the attack, we requested help securing the site, and we continue to work with the Libyan government on this front."

Republican House leaders have accused the Obama administration of refusing requests by U.S. diplomats in Libya to beef-up security.

Today, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced that she had appointed a five-member board to investigate whether security was adequate and whether proper procedures were followed before, during and after the attack, which the administration now says was carried out by al-Qaeda-backed terrorists. The State Department and White House initially said the attack came as Libyans protested a U.S.-based film that mocked Islam and the prophet Mohammed.

The Accountability Review Board is being led by former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, retired admiral Michael Mullen.

"The men and women who serve this country as diplomats deserve no less than a full and accurate accounting wherever that leads and I am committed to seeking that for them," Clinton told reporters, the Associated Press says.

The investigation into the attack was also discussed this morning by State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland at the daily briefing.